How do you build your team?

PoryKid575

PoryKid575

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    Unlike most other turn-based RPGs; Pokemon gives you many dozens of options to fill out your party. How do you tend to find yourself building your team in playthroughs?
     
    First playthrough: Who looks interesting? Keeps an eye on types. Fills the last ~2 slots with decent looking Pokemon with a type that helps the team the most.

    Challenge playthroughs: Varies a little, depending on the rules. Who do you want to use? Builds around that. Tries not to have more than two weaknesses to a type. Winds up with three weaknesses on a team sometimes.

    Typically checks for moves like Charm, Feather Dance, Swords Dance, and Nasty Plot too. Goes for setup sweeps often. Enables that easier with debuffs. Sticks to one debuffer, usually. Overshadows the other one otherwise.
     
    I prefer setup sweeper and/or statball formation.


    I just try to maintain the type balance and look for wide offensive coverage, and hence ground type Pokémon are must. Three are Physical attackers and the remaining three are special attackers. At least one should be like a wall, and one for going all-out wall-breaking play.
     
    I usually start by peeking at what's available in the early game, and choose two or three Pokémon that I like or am interested to play with, and have a potentially good synergy. Example: Fuecoco (once fully evolved) + Maschiff + Smoliv. Normally, those early game picks are either:
    -New Pokémon.
    -Pokémon that already existed but I couldn't use in previous games due to availability or my team being already full.
    -Pokémon that previously I would ignore but got something new (Ability, moves, regional forms) that made them more interesting.

    Once those two or three early game Pokémon are set, I play with them and see how they perform. Do they complement each other? What types or kind of Pokémon they have trouble dealing with? Any major weakness I should try to fix? Should I add more physical or special attackers? Do I need a faster or some defensive Pokémon to balance things out? etc. And based on that I try to complete the team with Pokémon that can somehow fill the gaps and provide what I'm looking for.

    Still, I wouldn't add a Pokémon I just don't like even if from a logical standpoint it would be a fantastic choice. I rather go with a weaker, less optimal alternative if I have a personal prefference towards that Pokémon and consider it decent enough to assume the role. We don't need the best ot the best for an in-game playthrough, as long as I have a capable and somewhat balanced team and I enjoy playing with them I'm happy with that :smile:
     
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    I usually play challenges that restrict the Pokemon I can use, mostly monotypes. These tend to have pretty obvious Pokemon to pick, but if I have a lot of options I tend to go for dual-types that don't have double-weaknesses.

    In the absence of such restrictions, I tend to pick a core of three Pokemon of the same type (with different dual-types), then pick whichever three Pokemon best counter my main type's weaknesses. I have never liked type-balanced teams, and I've usually had an easier time beating such teams with type-imbalanced teams than the reverse. I can consistently rely on having a Pokemon of my main type somewhere in the party, giving me redundancy that type-balanced teams don't have, while still having options for dealing with types my core team members struggle with. Plus, if I'm fighting against type-balanced teams, they'll tend to have fewer party members that counter mine than I have Pokemon of my main type, putting me ahead once their counters are dealt with by my own counters.
     
    I love the teambuilding in Pokemon, whenever I replay a game I'll look over the regional Pokedex and make a list of every Pokemon I've never used before. Then I'll remove any Pokemon I'm not interested in using, and then weigh those options against each other. I'll try to stick with one Pokemon per type, and keep them paced out so I'm not playing too long without a new party member. I really love the idea of using Pokemon I've never used before constantly because it means I'll get to form more and more opinions on new Pokemon every time and keep things fresh. I don't really plan ahead for what Pokemon will be good to use at certain points, it just keeps things more interesting for me.
     
    My exact process:

    sees pokemon, is it a bug? if yes then probably going on the team.
    if not a bug, do i find it cute? if yes then probably going on team.
    if not either then It's not on the team!
     
    I'm pretty simple - I put things in that I think look cute or cool and also have fairly viable stats. I also try not to overlap types too many times, just because I like the variety. But design is king to me more than anything else. Unless it has really bad stats like Ledian, I will probably use it if I think it looks good. :D;
     
    i try to vary in types for any challenger and keep leveled Pokèmon so no grinding. i rarely change my party after starting unless rare or legendary Pokèmon appears
     
    On my first playthrough, I usually look at the available roster and pick the ones I like. I usually pick around 8-12 Pokémon this way. Then, I look when I can catch them and plan my team according to that. But it's never set in stone. If I find out I don't like any Pokémon I initially picked, I usually switch them up for something. For example, during my first playthrough of Sapphire, I had a Linoone on my team, mostly for HM. And I decided to switch it up for Hariyama in Victory Road. Or in my first playthrough of Violet, I initially wanted to use Houndstone, but found it not really fitting the rest of my team, so I switched it up for Ceruledge.
     
    I pretty much just randomly throw Pokemon on the team if I like their design on a first playthrough, trying to avoid type overlap but sometimes ignoring that.
    For repeat playthroughs it's pretty much the same, but with different Pokemon. Usually ones I haven't used on a team yet.

    Outside of type based playthroughs I don't plan anything at all. There's no need as anything can be made to work.
     
    _confused_piplup_ said:
    I generally include a zubat in my team because
    Click to expand...

    Is it due to utility or because it is the first Pokémon you get as soon as you enter any cave till generation 5 (sorry Woobat) ?

    :tongue::LOL::tongue:
     
    Delta Crowned Sword said:
    Is it due to utility or because it is the first Pokémon you get as soon as you enter any cave till generation 5 (sorry Woobat) ?

    :tongue::LOL::tongue:
    Click to expand...
    I like the design and the typing. It's fast and strong enough. Offers good cover against fighting, grass and quite good against Fairy types
     
    Right now I'm trying to do some quick playthroughs of older games where I go with a small team of 2-3 Pokémon. My team building currently equates to starter Pokémon, early Flying-type and box art legendary when applicable.

    For Ruby, my team is currently Swampert and Swellow, though I plan to add Groudon as a third team member when I catch it. If I do a Pearl playthrough after, my team will be Infernape, Staraptor and eventually Palkia.
     
    I'm not very competitive, so I tend to keep my parties simple. So it varies.

    I DO require a grass type though. That's the only thing. Everything else is fair game.

    In earlier games (I mean..back when we had Game Boys), I went with Pokemon that are compatible with HMs.
     
    During my playthroughs, I mostly just picked my favorites. As a result, a lot of my teams featured the same Pokémon. More recently, however, I tend to design my playthrough teams based on keeping my Starter Pokémon for the entire playthrough and a structure of cores and roles. For example, if I were playing Pokémon Omega Ruby:
    1. Torchic (Lovely cute Starter that I can't pass up)
    2. Staryu (Serves as my Water-type coverage for Torchic and evolves into my favorite Pokémon)
    3. Seedot (Serves as coverage for my Staryu and is a great replacement when you don't pick the Grass-type Starter)
    Overall, this completes my Fire, Water, Grass core, which guarantees offensive and defensive coverage. Not only did I pick these three Pokémon to complete my three-type core because they are personal favorites, but when they are fully evolved, they also gain the Fighting, Psychic, and Dark types respectively, which can also serve as a three-type core similar to Fire, Water, and Grass, providing me with even more offensive and defensive coverage at the same time. After that, I try to get my other Pokémon to fulfill different roles. Because this example is about Pokémon Omega Ruby, some of those roles involve HMs. While Staryu can already Surf, Dive, and Waterfall when needed (thankfully move deleters exist), Torchic can Rock Smash, and Nuzleaf can Cut, I need a Pokémon that can Fly and use Strength. Another role that I find important is False Swipe for catching Pokémon, which is something that Nuzleaf is good at.
    1. Aerodactyl (A personal favorite that gets a lot of STAB from Fly, can learn Strength, and has a lot of coverage. If not Aerodactyl, assuming that I can't transfer a level 1 one over, then I would use any powerful Flying-type Pokémon, such as a strong regional bird, that can deal good damage from Fly. I believe in making the move useful in battle as well as an HM move).
    Another aspect of my playthroughs is battle facilities. Because I already have all the Pokémon I need to fulfill every role, the rest of the Pokémon should be strong enough to hold their own in the Battle Maison. In that case, I typically choose a strong Pokémon such as a member of the 600-club (pseudo-legendary) or something similar, and another strong Pokémon that can cover for it.
    1. Beldum (Eventually evolves into Metagross, and does so relatively early at level 45. Has a Mega form and is powerful enough to hold its own in Battle Maison).
    2. Igglybuff (Covers for Beldum's weaknesses)
    Eventually, my Pokémon would evolve, leaving me with a team of:
    1. Blaziken
    2. Starmie
    3. Shiftry
    4. Metagross
    5. Aerodactyl
    6. Wigglytuff
    It would come out looking like so, fully prepared for Battle Maison:
    https://pokepast.es/38ba5df183da9ddc
     
    I rarely dump my starter unless it's trash-tier like in Pokemon Yellow.

    My teams typically include a Water type, an Electric type, a Ground type, and whatever the best cat Pokemon in the game happens to be.

    If Electrode and/or Flygon are available in-game, they're automatic additions to my party. Same with Persian (see "best cat Pokemon" criteria above.)

    I avoid having any two Pokemon with overlapping types unless it's completely unavoidable.

    Other than that, whatever looks the best in its final evolutionary form.
     
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